Georgia Loses Federal Case in a Dispute About Water

[flashl]

Source: NY Times

ATLANTA — Georgia lost a major court fight in the Southern battle over water rights on Tuesday when a federal appellate-court panel said the state could not withdraw as much water as it had planned from an Atlanta-area reservoir.

The victory went to Alabama and Florida, which had contended that Georgia’s plan would siphon off water that should flow downstream to their consumers. The two states had brought the appellate suit to undo an agreement between Georgia and the Army Corps of Engineers that would have given Georgia rights to use nearly a quarter of the water in Lake Sidney Lanier, which supplies drinking water to much of northern Georgia.

In the ruling, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the agreement was void because the two parties had not first obtained Congressional approval. Under federal law, the corps must obtain such approval before making “major structural or operational” changes to the management of its federal reservoirs.

“I simply do not see how we can conclude this is not a major change,” Judge Judith W. Rogers wrote for the panel.

NY Times

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/us/06water.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin

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Looks like, while Georgians were told to pray for rain, someone was attempting to move the goalpost to obtain more water from Lake Sidney Lanier.

[The Croquist]

1. It's raining in North Georgia today

We also may be getting the tornadoes that hit Arkansas and other states last night.

This sucks. We really need the water. Maybe not now but next summer and if we don't fill up lake Lanier at least partially this spring we may not have it.

We did reach an agreement with Alabama and the Feds to get more water but not as much as we wanted.
Lake Lanier is an artificial lake and we wanted to cut the outgoing water flow to match the incoming water flow. That would have meant that the water flowing into the Gulf would have been the same, in these conditions, as if Buford dam was not there. The Feds demanded more then that saying that a flow of that amount would cause stress to the estuary but stress happens naturally in a drought.

We ended up with a compromise. That compromise was just invalidated. I wonder if a cholera epidemic in Atlanta would change the courts opinion.

[rateyes]

2. Congress needs to move on this, now.

The deal was not a bad one.

[DemoTex]

3. PPPP on Atlanta's part.

Piss-Poor-Prior-Planning. Actually, NO planning. Development run amok. Ever known a "Developer" who wasn't a big Republican?

[The Croquist]

6. Don't blame the developers

Blame the government. The population of Metropolitan Atlanta has quadrupled since Lake Lanier was built in the 1950's. If there weren't people to buy their crap the developers wouldn't build it.
You can blame the city of Atlanta, the surrounding counties and the state, both parties can be blamed. They didn't zone to prevent sprawling suburbs with big lawns (I've got an acre in Stone Mountain). If bank robbery wasn't against the law I would blame the government for keeping it legal.
People want to move to Georgia (I'm from NY) and it's tough to stop them. The last I knew we were required by the Constitution to allow Yankees in here.

Something like 50% of the water put into the water pipes leaks out before it reaches the faucets. The government owns the street pipes and some date back 100 years.

During a previous drought we had a 10 inch water pipe break on my street. I called the county several times and it took 45 minutes for them to get out. It took another 45 minutes for them to turn it off. I could write a book on the incompetence they showed.

After they fixed it they told us to run our faucets for a while to get dirt and contaminated water out of the system. Two of us turned on sprinklers and they threatened to write us tickets for wasting water. Apparently we were allowed to put it in our septic tanks but not our lawns. I think they were mad at me because I had told them earlier that they had forgotten to turn the main back on (I'm not kidding).

[plasticsundance]

9. I would disagree with the following

Blame the government. The population of Metropolitan Atlanta has quadrupled since Lake Lanier was built in the 1950's. If there weren't people to buy their crap the developers wouldn't build it.

Developers do build without a care who buys what they build. The city of Dallas did something similar during the boom of the 80's and were left with new buildings they couldn't fill.

Although the government shares the blames also. Atlanta is allowing developers to build to encourage the growth they experienced starting in the mid 90's to continue. Atlanta & Georgia do not want to admit that the party is over. They also do not maintain the city infrastructure to keep pace with the development.

The city is outgrowing the pace it can supply itself with water, and the drought has simply magnified this problem.

[October]

13. Agreed

Not the word again, aGREED.

My husband was on our local planning commission. Developers sue till they get their way. Little townships can't afford such lawsuits.

They use every available INCH to squeeze as much housing a parcel of land as is possible.

There's little to no concern over water run-off, proper drainage, or anything else that might dare eat into their profits.

[unapatriciated]

4. The rain just stopped in Marietta...

was a nice steady one for awhile, but nowhere near enough.

[The Croquist]

7. Some rain is better then no rain

Baby steps, baby steps.
The drought took a year to get to where it is today and if it takes a year to get our lakes and water tables back to normal I wouldn't be too upset. Lanier will get more water in it today then it releases. My lawn and the trees on and around my property will get more water then they lose. It's warm so we won't get the occasional but brutal 2 hours of ice that we are famous for surviving. Just in case I've got milk, bread and beer. Obama took Georgia last night. Overall it's a good day.
No offense meant by the Obama crack.

[unapatriciated]

8. yes appreciate any and all rain

[halobeam]

5. Scary to think when this gets enough attention, it may be too late.

There weren't enough outcries from ALL Americans regarding the levies and a city went under water; There aren't enough American's screaming right now, once again, and a city of MILLIONS will be without.

Even shits creek has something flowing.
This time there will be no need for a paddle.

For those who put their head in the sand, it'll get easier to do so... when that's all we have left.

[Doctor Cynic]

10. This situation boggles my mind

So they say that Atlanta could run out of water within a few weeks, and this will "cost human lives."

I'll tell you a secret.






The vast majority of water is used for unnecessary things like watering lawns. This is very important because Atlanta's sprawl is one of the worst in the world, which drives consumption up.

If Georgia was sincere about surviving the water crisis, they would ban all lawn watering, ban all car washing, ban hot tub using, and encourage short showers. I guarantee consumption will plummet. Of course some will complain about losing their God-given right to a pristine McMansion, but drastic times call for drastic measures. Drinking and cooking only counts for a tiny fraction of water usage in most developed countries, so we should never worry about running out of drinking water. It's called shock therapy, and hopefully the state can emerge as a leader in water conservation.

[flashl]

11. Drought May Keep Georgia Pools Shut for Summer

February 5, 2008 · The idea of summer without swimming pools has ignited a firestorm in Georgia. The long-term effects of an almost two-year drought have called into question whether thousands of outdoor pools in 61 north Georgia counties will be allowed to open.

State officials first limited and then banned outdoor watering altogether last year. Since the drought hasn't improved, many Georgians have just realized that adding water to maintain pools is already part of that ban.

There are thousands of outdoor pools in Georgia: community pools, hotel pools, private pools and pools at the YMCA. Under the state's drought rules, indoor pools would remain open.

But closing outdoor pools raises safety concerns, says Kristin Obaranek of the YMCA of Metro Atlanta, which runs about a dozen outdoor pools.

NPR

[Heywood J]

12. How far is Atlanta from the coast?

If there really are that many people moving in, then it shouldn't be so hard to build a desalination plant like Tampa is doing, or like they do in Australia and the Middle East, and pipe the water in. I guess it comes down to how desperate you are. Many people = larger tax base for revenue raising - and water is something essential. If it's feasible for Los Angeles to build pipelines from lakes five hundred miles away, then Georgia can build a plant or two.